Cancellation of account - completely bungled by Vodacom

I was a happy customer of Vodacom for several years, but decided to leave them for various reasons. My contract came to an end and I called in January to ask that my account be switched to a pre-paid number - this was duly done. By the end of February, I was a pre-paid customer, and as expected, a debit-order came off in March for that month. Then in April, another amount came off - no explanation was given. I therefore cancelled the debit order at the bank, and although I tried to contact their contact centre, I ended up giving up after repeatedly being cut-off or being forced to sit on hold for up to 45 minutes. I then received a statement from Vodacom saying that I owed this money, but no explanation came for what it was for, even when I phoned them multiple times - sometimes it was for cancelling the contract, sometimes it was for 'services received'. Between the cancellations department and accounts, I received multiple assurances that this was an error and would be resolved, and that "service queries" had been raised. What was also interesting was the amount I supposedly owed kept changing - the initial debit (which I challenged) was R622 odd, but this went to R722, and then to R1100, then back to R722, etc. I received an email from their escalations department stating that the R622-odd was correct and that I was liable, but then no further response was received, in spite of me again querying this and quoting my reference number. In June (four months later) I then received another call from Vodacom stating that I owed R1100. After multiple phonecalls (many of which were cut off) I finally spoke to Nonkululeko in their cancellations department who explained that the amount I had been debited for in April was for services rendered in February. This makes little sense as I would naturally assume that the amount paid in March would have been all-inclusive of what was raised in February, but this is apparently how Vodacom's systems work.

This also means that Nonkululeko is the first person who actually bothered to see why I supposedly owe money. Considering that I must have spoken to upwards of 6 people over the last couple of months, this is shocking.

What is extremely irritating about this is that Vodacom will then slander your credit record, as you're now a 'bad payer', even though their own departments can't explain what you actually owe.

I have now been assured that if I pay the R622 I will supposedly be clear and that my account will be squared. I'm not holding my breath at this point.